Okay folks, for those of you up late or up early reading this before the con opens its doors on this fine Thursday, here is everything you need to know about how to obtain the four exclusive minifigures.

We explored the pitfalls of their distribution of minifigs at last year's Comic Con and it seems they have either learned from their mistake, listened to the disgruntled masses or both! Though probably learned from their mistakes as I am pretty sure no one wanted to relive that experience all over again. So here's the breakdown.

- Starting at 11:30am everyday, you can visit the booth to get your badge scanned AND pick up a ticket. Badge scanning will last as long as they have tickets. You can only scan your badge once and get only one ticket, thus ensuring that the number of figs falls into the most number of hands as possible.

- You can scan your badge once a day for each figure. Trying to get your badge scanned more than once will throw and error and you will be denied.

- Starting at 3:30pm, visit LEGORaffle.com to see if you're a winner based on your ticket number. If you have a winning ticket, swing by the booth and pick up your shiny new precious.

- The following list is the schedule of which minifig will be given away on which day, and the quantity of each figure available:

So, as a collector my choices are: Have a hole in my collection, Fly to San Diego and stand in line for a chance to win one, or pay over $200 for one on Ebay.

I’m afraid I’m still at a loss as to why everyone is excited about this, unless you don’t collect Lego. These could just as easily be ‘preview’ figures (to be released later). There would still be plenty of buzz. True, you might weed out some scalpers and people only interested in selling Lego, but I don’t see that as a bad thing.

And just so no one thinks all I do is complain, I am excited for the Back to the Future and Lego Movie sets. And Flash.. very happy to have that figure coming out in a retail set!

Last edited by gomek on Thu Jul 18, 2013 9:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

Them being previews would defeat the purpose of them being SDCC Exclusives. I personally think it's nice to have the chance to get exclusives at events. Unfortunately, I can't always attend said events and even if I did it's a crap shoot.

'Resistance is Futile. We will add your Bricks and Minifigures to our own. Your Bothans will adapt to service us." "I AM the Law!" >> [email protected] <<

buriedbybricks wrote:Them being previews would defeat the purpose of them being SDCC Exclusives. I personally think it's nice to have the chance to get exclusives at events. Unfortunately, I can't always attend said events and even if I did it's a crap shoot.

Yeah, there are always going to be a few people who benefit. (this year less than other years apparently) but more people get the 'exclude' part than not.

How about this idea (in the spirit of being solutions oriented) How about everyone at the convention gets a chance to buy one. You get your exclusive, Lego pays for it's production run, and then they actually go for a reasonable price on the after market, and (and this is part is important) myself and others can actually afford to buy one for their kids to play with.

So, your solution to the problem (you perceive), is for LEGO to make enough for every one to be able to buy one. Making it less special and far less exclusive.

The numbers aren't done to spite anyone and they certainly aren't because LEGO can't afford the run. It's done to make it more special. It went from being rare last year to super rare this year. Next year they may make only a hundred and it'll be ultra rare.

The aftermarket debate is pointless. The second these figures have left LEGO's hand they don't care what happens to them. These figures are for people who attend SDCC. Period. LEGO is aware of how things go on the aftermarket, but everything I've heard indicates that they simply don't care about that. They sell a product and sometimes they create something special for a small group as a treat. LEGO factory tour sets, grand opening swag, con exclusives. These are never meant to be for the general audience.

If I had to guess, I'd say the reduced numbers are, in part, to prevent thousands of people trying to go through 4000 names in one spot on a tiny piece of paper to see if they won.

LEGO sent me a red chrome keychain as a promo/gift/thank you. They didn't care what I did with it. I could have sold it and made a few bucks, but I gave it to a friend who wanted it more. If it had been a Spidey keychain, said friend would've been SOL. LEGO decided how to distribute them, yes. In doing so, someone would feel left out unless everyone got one, yes. They made their choice, took the flak and moved on knowing they made some customers happy.

I called customer service to personally thank them. I felt it caught the rep way off guard and she seemed surprised that a call regarding the keychain was a positive one. And yes, I told her that I gave it away and that seemed to make her even happier.

The facts are:

- LEGO is NOT being unethical, in any way in this situation.

- They are NOT controlling, or attempting to control the aftermarket value of these giveaways. That is a side effect of exclusivity in any collectable and it has become a big part of what SDCC is about.

- These figures are not for you or me. They are for those lucky/brave/insane enough to go to the con and possibly enhance their trip by walking away with something special that very few people have.

- If you and I want these figures, we have to go, know someone who goes (and loves us enough to waste their time jumping through hoops), or pay. Big time.

I admit that it sucks for those that are left out. I still pine for the black suited Spider-man from last year, but this isn't something LEGO has done TO me, it's something they've done FOR someone else.

I hope those that get them enjoy them, and I'm sure the scalpers (who have seemed to be a small percentage) get a fair price for all the hoops they jump through... and possibly a nasty hangnail.

And a case of con crud.

'Resistance is Futile. We will add your Bricks and Minifigures to our own. Your Bothans will adapt to service us." "I AM the Law!" >> [email protected] <<

Luckily none of these wow me enough to make me want to get any of them. I am glad I am no longer the Lego Star Wars freak I used to be, or even as wild about the super heroes as I once know I would have (I used to collect comics like crazy). If it is not a good Space or Castle figure I really do not care. Super hero and Star Wars stuff are what get these insane limited releases as they have the most 'passionate' of fans. Now if they had a regular green, grey, pearl gold, orange, or really any other color classic space man reissue (with original style helmets) I would be there. ... I guess I see Super heroes and most other niche products like them to have to much limiting their usage for good playability in the Lego realm. Then again this is from an army builders perspective. You cannot really have an army of Spidermans or Zod's or whatnot. Now gimme an army of Blacktrons and I am happy

OK.. a couple replies then:Ethics are a matter of opinion, they are not facts. People eat hamburgers every day. I eat hamburgers. Ethically a lot of people don’t have a problem with it. You might say you personally don’t have a problem eating hamburgers, but you don’t say it is not a matter of ethics, or that ethically it’s OK (for everyone). Ethics are a personal thing. Personally I have a problem with what they are doing. You do not. That’s OK.

The controlling thing got pretty beat that to death in the other thread. We just disagree on that.

Not meant for me. Fair enough.

As for the scalpers being a small percentage… I’ve never been to SDCC so I can’t say what goes on there. But the sheer volume of these things that hit the secondary market does not seem to be a small percentage to me.

Honestly, I guess what I really don’t understand, is why if you want a Black Spider-man figure, you’d rather support exclusives (which means you don’t get one) than support the eventual retail release of these figures (which means you do.)

I understand that people don’t agree with me about the moral stuff, or whether it helps the bottom line. I just don’t get why people like to not get stuff (which is all but 300 of us). If enough people complained about the Green Lantern figure, you might have your black suit Spider-man. You can defend Lego’s right to do this stuff (and I never said they don’t have that right) but why do you like not getting stuff?

buriedbybricks wrote:So, your solution to the problem (you perceive), is for LEGO to make enough for every one to be able to buy one. Making it less special and far less exclusive.

The numbers aren't done to spite anyone and they certainly aren't because LEGO can't afford the run. It's done to make it more special. It went from being rare last year to super rare this year. Next year they may make only a hundred and it'll be ultra rare.

What I don't get is, if you discount people who are primarily concerned about monetary value of these items, how does making them more rare make them more "special"? The only way they are more "special", as far as I can tell, is that they ARE worth a ton more money than something that is more widely available. If what you are truly interested in is a GL minifig, how many OTHER people have one isn't going to have any effect on how glad you are to have one.

The only way that would make a difference, it seems to me, is if what you are REALLY interested in is NOT having a GL minifig, but having a VALUABLE GL minifig. Whether you intend to sell it or not, that still speaks less of interest in the product than interest in the product's value. I'm just not clear how LEGO benefits by catering to folks whose enjoyment of their product apparently hinges on how few OTHER people can get one.

I guess it is just alien to my personal mindset. Doesn't make it wrong, of course. But for example, I've got a chrome C-3PO. I love it, I think it is probably the coolest fig I own, and I value it on that basis. I would not be fussed in the least if everybody else in the world got one tomorrow, it would not change how I feel about it in the least, since I couldn't care less how much it is WORTH, and no matter how many other people have one, it is STILL a C-3PO minifig in GOLD CHROME, which I find frikkin' cool.

Then you do get it Ed, you're just not really separating the fact that it is rare from the fact that it is worth money.

It's worth more because it is rare, that's a side effect. It's more special because only a few have one. The more rare something is, the more special it is. Like a one of a kind sketch. Or whoever got the George Lucas minifigure.

If you're a collector and one of only two people who have a certain item, you can't tell me you wouldn't feel lucky to have it. If you don't feel lucky in having something when the odds of that are incredibly slim, then you won't see how special the object really is.

You can tell how much I care about the cash value of figs by the fact that I let my 5yo play with my Mr. Gold, but he's special to me because I felt lucky to find one.

If a friend makes you a gift and never makes another one, that makes it more special. They could make more, but they don't. It's just for you. You lucked out.

Of course, it mostly sounds like LEGO is trying to do something nice for a few people and it's just a big clusterfrak. Like when your mom knits a special ugly sweater just for you and it starts a big family fued.

'Resistance is Futile. We will add your Bricks and Minifigures to our own. Your Bothans will adapt to service us." "I AM the Law!" >> [email protected] <<

buriedbybricks wrote:If you're a collector and one of only two people who have a certain item, you can't tell me you wouldn't feel lucky to have it. If you don't feel lucky in having something when the odds of that are incredibly slim, then you won't see how special the object really is.

I'm a Collector, capital 'C'. For reference, I own nearly a thousand Transformers, and with the exception of some retail I've not got around to buying and this year's exclusive sets, I own every Star Wars set and minifig released. And I could not give half of a bantha poodoo about any of it being 'special', or that I'm 'lucky' to have it - lucky that I'm from a middle-class family and have disposable income, basically - I only care that I've got something, and I'd feel exactly the same way if everyone on the planet had the same. In fact, I'd prefer it if everyone that wanted to had at least a chance to own any of it. And if you need something to be rare or exclusive for you to appreciate it in any way, you should examine why, and maybe leave owning it to someone who's happy just because they have it.

buriedbybricks wrote:Then you do get it Ed, you're just not really separating the fact that it is rare from the fact that it is worth money.

It's worth more because it is rare, that's a side effect. It's more special because only a few have one. The more rare something is, the more special it is. Like a one of a kind sketch. Or whoever got the George Lucas minifigure.

If you're a collector and one of only two people who have a certain item, you can't tell me you wouldn't feel lucky to have it. If you don't feel lucky in having something when the odds of that are incredibly slim, then you won't see how special the object really is.

You can tell how much I care about the cash value of figs by the fact that I let my 5yo play with my Mr. Gold, but he's special to me because I felt lucky to find one.

If a friend makes you a gift and never makes another one, that makes it more special. They could make more, but they don't. It's just for you. You lucked out.

Of course, it mostly sounds like LEGO is trying to do something nice for a few people and it's just a big clusterfrak. Like when your mom knits a special ugly sweater just for you and it starts a big family fued.

I guess that this means I'm not really a "collector" despite collecting things, because while I might feel lucky because I got something rare, the rarity has no bearing on my enjoyment of it. I feel lucky because I AM lucky, given the rarity, but I wouldn't value the item less if everybody else had one, not if the item itself was what interested me. There are a whole lot of rare things in the world that I don't care about not having, and NONE of the rare things that I DO care about having do I care about having BECAUSE they are rare. I want a Green Lantern minifigure because I like GL, and I like LEGO. If somehow I got my hands on one, I WOULD feel lucky, because they've made it so darn impossible, but I wouldn't enjoy it any more than I would the same figure that came in a polybag that I could pick up at Target.

Again, the notion of having the value of an object (other than monetary) to me be dependent on OTHER people not getting one is foreign to my way of thinking. I own a few rare items, and I can't think of a single instance where I would care one whit if they suddenly became widely available. I can't fathom being happy to have something, then having that feeling change because of other people getting one, unless I was concerned with its monetary value.

There’s something that everyone needs to consider about the collectables market. All these chase variants and such that flooded the collectable market about 20 years ago were never done for collectors. The original purpose of these was as an incentive for retailers to buy more product, and a way for retailers to make more money by charging collectors a premium. Chase variants are not made for the benefit of collectors, they are made at the expense of collectors. The collectable industry is not better for these things. Short term profiteering has disillusioned many a collector and these industries have suffered for it.

Also, I have to put my two cents in about collecting. I own quite a few SDCC figures, but I don’t love them any more or less than my other figures. As I’m sure you can tell, I’m a bit annoyed because I had to pay so much for them, but I couldn’t care less how rare they are or who else owns one. I love all my Lego because it’s either from my youth, or it reminds me of my youth, or because I appreciate its artistic value. It’s not because I own something that someone else doesn’t. I have a GL figure and I still hope Lego releases it publicly tomorrow. Sure it will make the value of my figure go down, but I'll be able to get one that I can use when I play with my kids, and that means infinitely more to me than the monetary value of a figure I will never sell.

I have to agree with the others on this one. Making a figure ultra rare by artificially limiting its number does not benefit anyone other than those profiteering from it. You can still have a valuable minifig that was widely available to the public if that is what you want. An example of this is the cloud city Boba Fett or Jango Fett. Sure there have been others released or will be released but will likely never have the same helmets again thus increasing their collector value. Having said that there is a whole market of custom figs that likely would not be as extensive if not for some of these variants. Many of these are better than what lego is producing and may not have been profitable to start if these variants weren't so hard to come by.

gomek wrote:Chase variants are not made for the benefit of collectors, they are made at the expense of collectors. The collectable industry is not better for these things. Short term profiteering has disillusioned many a collector and these industries have suffered for it.

You hit the nail on the head right there. I was a comic book collector since 1980 and have amassed somewhere around 18,000 comic books. Why did I stop? Because the companies were getting greedy, coming out with more and more gimmicks to squeeze money from you. I am not even sure what was worse, alternate covers whose print run was the same as the regular, or those that had a limited printing and you had to be a friend to the comic shop owner to even get a chance at it. I got annoyed with it in the 90's with bagged, foil embossed versions and now the new thing is variants or bloated extra issues and titles. In the past 5 years Lego is following the same footsteps by throwing out all these 'exclusive' figures everywhere. From the easier to get ones that come with books or movies, to these super rare ones at conventions and other events.

No matter where your love in Lego is, I think we can all agree that minifigures are awesome. The problem is that Lego has learned from this and are capitalizing on it like never before. CMF series anyone? Not to mention Mr Gold. Just about every new set that has a minifigure in it (especially Star Wars) has a special area on the box highlighting the figures and some even go as far as saying 'NEW!' next to them.

I don't have a problem with minifigures; you could even categorize me as an army builder in the current phase of my Lego habit. The issue is that the more I see all these rare and cool figures, the less I want to bother with any of them. It is not worth the time, effort or money to try and get them. I am more upset that Lego is using these kind of gimmicks to drum up interest in their products, and in turn drum up more sales. Lego is simply trying too hard and in turn gives off the appearance of being flashy and greedy. Well I guess these aren't your daddy's Legos anymore... sigh...